Does the traditional Madhva Sampradāya support the Ritvik theory? Is Srila Prabhupada the ultimate deliverer of his followers?

Although the spiritual master accepts the responsibility of delivering the disciple out of the material world, he doesn't do that by his own strength.

As followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we are part of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradāya. This means that our line started with Lord Brahma, who received the Vedic knowledge directly from Krsna and passed through Srila Madhvācārya, who personally received the knowledge from Srila Vyāsadeva and through Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu and his followers, culminating with Srila Bhaktivinoda Thākura, Srila Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura, and Srila Prabhupada.

We all understand that the teachings given by Srila Prabhupada emphasize the acceptance of a spiritual master, who creates the link between the aspiring disciple and the previous ācāryas, going all the way to Krsna. Although the spiritual master accepts the responsibility of delivering the disciple out of the material world, he doesn't do that by his own strength. What the guru does is to connect the disciple with his own spiritual master, who in turn connects him with his own spiritual master, all the way to Krsna. Just like when we hold to a chain to be pulled out of the ocean, our deliverance from the material world is done by the whole Paramparā. Although we hold to the last link of the chain (the spiritual master), the lifting is done by the combined work of all links, all the way to Krsna. For this system to work, it's essential that not only the disciple remain connected to the spiritual master, but that the spiritual master himself remains connected to his own spiritual master, since a link disconnected from the chain has no value.

However, when we talk to talk to representatives of the traditional Madhva Sampradāya, we are challenged by their understanding that deliverance is not done by the spiritual master, but by Madhvācārya alone. According to them, one may receive initiation from a sannyasi, or any genuine follower of Madhvācārya, including even a family member, like the father or uncle, but in any case, the deliverer is Srila Madhvācārya. Representatives of the Madhva Sampradāya have a great appreciation for Srila Prabhupada, and according to them, Srila Prabhupada plays, for his followers, a similar role to the one played by Srila Madhvācārya in the Madhva Sampradāya. In other words, in their understanding, Srila Prabhupada alone is the deliverer of all his followers.

At first, this appears to contradict the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the instructions left by him for the continuation of the paramparā. In fact, Ritviks use this as an argument to support their philosophy that no guru is necessary and that one can be connected to Prabhupada through any priest giving initiation in his name. Is it so?

Not really. As in other philosophical points, both views are reconciled when one has a higher understanding.

The first point to understand is the position of Srila Prabhupada in our society. Is he just another guru, a prominent ācārya, or a sampradāya ācārya? This question is answered in the book "Srila Prabhupada The Founder-ācārya of Iskcon" (you can just Google it to find the PDF of the book). This book is accepted as a foundational book, or in other words, a book that holds conclusions that all followers of Srila Prabhupada are supposed to be well familiar with. It goes through all the rationale that leads to the conclusion that Prabhupada is the prominent ācārya for our society, just like Madhvācārya is for the traditional Madhva Sampradāya, a conclusion that is well supported by numerous arguments, starting from the title "Founder-ācārya" that Srila Prabhupada insisted on being used. This puts Prabhupada as the main guide and ultimate deliverer of all his followers, just as followers of the Madhva Sampradāya also conclude.

So, how does it fit into the idea of the spiritual master being the deliverer of the disciple that Prabhupada himself taught? Doesn't this conclusion support the ritvik philosophy? Actually not, but this requires a little brain to be understood.

Prabhupada is considered the prominent ācārya not only because he is the founder of our society, but also because he is accepted as a pure devotee and as the bona fide representative of Krsna. He gave the spiritual process and all the philosophical guidelines we are supposed to follow, adjusting the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy to our reality. Just like Vyāsadeva took just 400,000 verses out of the 1,000,000,000 verses of the original Purana to compile the 18 Puranas we have access to, Srila Prabhupada took out all the non-essential parts of the philosophy, focusing on what is important in our day and age. In this way, he cut out all the nonsense and gave us a practical process we can successfully follow. Thanks to Srila Prabhupada's contribution, even a spiritual master who is not similarly empowered can deliver his disciples by connecting them to Srila Prabhupada. Because Prabhupada is already doing the heavy lifting, the spiritual master doesn't necessarily have to be an empowered ācārya like him; he just has to be his bona fide representative. The guru is still the deliverer of the disciple, and the responsible for connecting him with Srila Prabhupada and the rest of the paramparā, but he is just the last link in the chain and not the sole deliverer.

We can see that in certain periods of the history of our movement, we had gurus who claimed to be deliverers of their disciples, putting themselves in the same position as Srila Prabhupada. We can also see that most of them have fallen, while others were somehow or other corrected in their understanding. Nowadays, we fortunately have a better understanding of this point, and as a result, fewer falls.

When we can properly understand the role of the spiritual master of the role of the Sampradāya-ācārya (Srila Prabhupada himself), we can properly understand their roles, and see how the view of prominent teachers of the Madhva Sampradāya relates to the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada is the ultimate deliverer of all his followers because he is our connection with Krsna. However, simultaneously, we are connected to Srila Prabhupada by our own spiritual master. The spiritual master connects us to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada connects us to Krsna. In this way, we are delivered. Srila Prabhupada is the deliverer, but at the same time, the initiating spiritual master, as well as the siksa-gurus, are essential since they connect us with him.

In this way, there is no conflict between the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the teachings of the teachers from the Madhva Sampradāya, nor is there support for the ritvik theory, which is just a gross misunderstanding of the whole process of paramparā.

The problem with the ritvik theory is that it replaces the spiritual master with the role of a priest who just performs the rites. There is a fundamental difference between this and the authentic process, since the spiritual master plays the role of a genuine representative of Srila Prabhupada, who teaches the disciple and connects him to Srila Prabhupada, assuming the responsibility of keeping him connected to the paramparā and thus allowing him to be delivered by Srila Prabhupada and the previous ācāryas. The ritvik priest, on the other hand, is just a formal priest who assumes no responsibility for the disciple. One who follows the ritvik philosophy remains thus disconnected from the paramparā and Srila Prabhupada himself. It's good if, with this, people who can't at all appreciate the importance of a spiritual master can at least be inspired to practice the basic principles of spiritual life, but we can't expect anyone to go back to Godhead through such an irregular process. At best, one can hope to become purified enough to be able to practice properly in his or her next life.

If you read this article to the end, give it a like. This helps it to reach more people.
If you have questions, use the comments; I will answer as possible. They may even become the topic for another article. Your thoughts and opinions are also very welcome.